1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a patient monitoring system and method that can be used, for example, with an orthosis for physical therapy.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of medicine, rehabilitation after surgery or other major medical procedures has been an important issue for researchers. As shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,395,303; 5,285,773; 5,213,094; 5,167,612; 6,502,577; 6,113,562 and 5,848,979, continuous passive motion has been used to treat conditions such as the glenohumeral joint adhesive capsulitis. These patents teach using stretching principles in order to treat one of the major problems patients are referred to physical therapists for: lack of a full range of motion in their joints. The orthosis devices of these patents simulate manual therapy techniques used in clinical settings, combining the principles of stress relaxation and progressive stretch to achieve permanent elongation of soft tissue.
Once a patient has been prescribed treatment with one of the rehabilitation orthosis devices, a major concern is patient education and compliance. To maximize improvement in range of motion the patient must comply with the prescribed protocol and the patient improvement must be tracked. The exercise protocol for these orthosis devices is well established, and should be followed closely to ensure the best treatment possible. First, the patient fits the orthosis as specified by the device specific instructions. Then the patient rotates the knob of the orthosis device until a slight stretch is felt. This stretch should not be painful. Now the patient holds this position for a predetermined time period (e.g., five minutes), and then this procedure is repeated for a predetermined number of stretches (e.g., 6 stretches). During the first week of the patient's treatment, typically one session a day is performed. During the second week, typically two sessions per day are performed. During the third and following weeks, typically three sessions per day are performed.
The above described orthosis devices allow the patient to do these sessions outside of the confines of the doctor's or physical therapist's office. Due to the fact that there are no medically trained personnel to oversee this treatment, the opportunity to stray from the protocol is introduced. In addition, the patient is responsible for the tracking of his or her own progress until reporting back to the physical therapist or doctor. Both of these conditions have the possibility of introducing a high margin of error. Most recently, physicians have expressed an interest in keeping better records of an individual patient's progress during the rehabilitation process. Unfortunately, in many cases, since the rehabilitation process occurs mostly within the confines of the patient's home, it is difficult for a physician to keep an accurate record of the patient's progress.
There are other areas in which patient education and compliance outside the immediate supervision of a health care professional remain problematic. For example, electrical stimulation of bone growth for treatment of fractures requires a regime of therapy that demands patient adherence in order to optimize the stimulatory effects.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved patient monitoring system and method.